Ragdoll cats - indoor but using garden, would they run off?

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I am looking into - tentatively getting a cat, but I am not sure I could inflict cat poo on our neigbours, I am thinking about possibly a ragdoll cat...but we do have a long garden but its not secure and due to different height levels in it - it maybe hard to secure it....

Could a rag doll be trained to stay in the garden ? Could for instance they be allowed out in the day but locked in at night? Or just allowed in the garden when we are there.

The Ragdoll my parents had was quite dim. She wasn't great at jumping, so didn't like to climb 6ft fences and escape the garden, but did occasionally manage to get out and then got stuck.

She also had no road sense and would dart close to cars if she managed to get out of the front of the house. My parents said that, if they had another Ragdoll, they'd make it indoors-only.

I don't see how limiting their outdoor time to daytime only will make any difference to whether they leave your garden. If you don't want the cat roaming, you'll either have to build a pen/ catproof the fences or only take it out on a lead.

I was wondering if in summer and our back door is open, would the cat try and escape or be happy to be in the garden with us...but of course cats do not understand garden boundaries...I am not sure how I would keep it in , in the summer when we are in and out....

A catio seems like it would be your friend here. As others have said, rag dolls are lovely but not the brightest of kitties and liable to get themselves into trouble without supervision!

My neighbour has 2 rag doll cats and they roam huge distances- one in particular will travel 3+ fields away (we live rurally). We also have a cat as do others in the village and the cats don’t venture into each other’s gardens but seem to share the rest of the space.

I’m a firm believer that cats should go outside- seeing the joy my cat experiences just stretching out in the sun on the patio the last few days it would be cruel to keep her inside.

My cats are half rag doll and have a lot of the traits. Gorgeous cats but no they shouldn’t be out and about. They are not a streetwise breed. We have french doors going into the garden so we just have to shut them behind us when we go in the garden. If you don’t want an indoor cat, don’t get a rag doll.

My neighbour has two ragdoll cats that she puts in a harness with a very long lead that's tied to a pole, and let's them out in the garden like that.

No, a cat won’t just stay in your garden.

Either get a street wise breed (that will use your neighbours’ flower beds as a toilet), or get a catio: a big, secure enclosure attached to the house.

Jesus I have read that you can walk them on a lead....

I've had Persians for years, they are mostly house cats but come in the garden with us. They are a bit dim and stay in the garden but we do have 6ft fence all the way round.

Or can cats be trained to defecate in one place?

We keep our cats in at night by having a cat flap with different settings. Turn to indoor only before their evening meal and feed at set times. My daughter has a half rag doll cat and she walks it on a lead and has a cage in the garden because he likes to sunbathe. If you allow your cats to go in and out as they please it is not easy to train them to stay in the garden. There are cat proof fences you can buy but they are expensive and you can be guaranteed someone will leave a window or door open on the front of the house at some point.

Yes it's called a litter tray. Are you trying to avoid having litter at home?

You can get really good stuff these days that is quite hygienic and easy to clean.

I may be wrong but I thought Rag Doll breeders will specify that the cat must be an indoor cat (or have a secure garden).

I think it's common in places like Japan to have cats that live in pretty small apartments and then go out for a walk on a lead.

In America the majority of cats are house cats (they obviously have predators over there that we don't get in the UK) but it doesn't mean they have loads of unhappy pets.

Some cats will roam, some won't.

Some will use a litter tray, some won't.

Some will shit in the neighbours flowerbeds, some won't.

Some will walk on a lead, some won't.

Some will sit with you in the garden, some won't.

etc etc

While there might be breed 'traits' they're far from guaranteed but what you can rely on is if there is anything you particularly want your cat to do or not do, it will behave in the opposite to what you want it to do .

You can cat proof your garden (not the nasty cat spikes to keep cats out) but barriers that you attach to your fence to keep your own cat in that they can’t climb.

Mine would leave the garden. I have a washing line (extra long) that runs the length of the garden for each and they wear a harness. The lead (a few together for good length) runs along the washing line clipped to a metal Carabiner type Hook and gives them the freedom to access most of the garden. The breeders are fine with that because that counts as them being an 'indoor cat' as their harnesses are secure and they can't run off. They ask to go out when they want to and I let them out daily (unless raining). One adores the snow! I would not walk mine on a lead on the street - they'd freak out at dogs barking at them tbh. To get them used to harnesses as kittens, I left the harnesses on for a couple of weeks so they 'lived' in them. After that, they don't mind wearing them. They do take a bit of brushing and you might want to trim their fur (especially the thick winter coat) around their bottoms and chests. I adore mine, but they're not for everyone. Also, I'd definitely make sure that they had safe outdoor access as I wouldn't want mine to be cooped up all the time, even in a big house with toys for them. Also worth considering, tbh most cats dislike a person following them round while they're on a lead, so a set-up secure area or somewhere to attach the lead like the washing lines works better. It gives them that real freedom to run and jump and play. As a sidenote - some people don't vaccinate cats that are only indoor cats, but as mine go out on leads, I'd always vaccinate for safety.

I know of someone with three ragdolls. She has extra fencing that comes at an angle to her normal fencing. The cats can't climb out.

What @BarbaraofSeville said.

You have no idea what your cat will be like until it’s settled in your home.

I have a moggy who was used for breeding for the first 2 years of her life. She’s terrified of pretty much everything as she’d never been exposed to anything but 4 walls and her kittens.

After we’d had her two years she got confident enough to go outside. But only if someone goes with her, only if the door is left open, and never for more than 20 or 30 mins at a time. In summer she sits on the deck in the sun.

Obviously this works really well, but I don’t recommend abusing your cat for 2 years in order to terrify it into staying indoors.

You could look for a very timid rescue and hope.

Pedigrees sold as “indoor” cats tend to be due to value and safety, not because their personalities are inherently suitable. Bengals for example have all sorts of behavioural issues kept indoors as they like huge spaces and massive territories.

You need to either secure the garden - or part of it or the cat while it’s out or keep them indoors really...

I’ve never met a ragdoll that should be out, I mean some are, but they shouldn’t be - they do things like just go for a lie down in the middle of roads, wander into neighbours houses and ask to be fed and get stuck in real weird places.

I mean, very sweet and amusing - but they’re definitely not safe